1
LUALHATI
The bizarre message was waiting for me on my comms tablet when I finished up my last shift at the Elora Station floor 600 medical bay.
Do you know anyone who might want to come work on a prison planet?
I frowned down at the text, understanding the words in a literal sense but otherwise uncomprehending. It had come from Tasha Wallace – or her comms tablet, anyway. Maybe she’d been spoofed or hacked. I quite liked Tasha, and had found her to be kind, professional, and competent when I’d answered a few questions for her last year when she’d been writing up a document that had a large section on human health. I didn’t think she was the type to ask nonsensical questions out of the blue.
“Dr. Ortiz!”
I glanced up from my comms tablet to see one of the med bay nurses, Annie, standing in front of me with a grin on her face and a tall transparent cup in her hand. The cup was filled to the top with dense layers of creamy white, purple, and yellow.
“You can call me Lualhati. I don’t work here anymore,” I said, gesturing with my comms tablet towards the entrance into the med bay I’d just left. Annie no doubt was just about to start her shift. “Is that halo-halo?”
“Yes!” Her grin widened, and she held out the cup. “I finally visited that dessert place on floor 812 that you recommended. The one with all the Old-Earth Filipino food. It’s incredible. Anyway, this is for you! A treat for your last day. I’m so glad I caught you!”
Blinking back unexpected tears, I smiled shakily and took the cup. I hadn’t exactly loved working at the busy, windowless med bay on Elora Station. I’d much preferred the small clinic I’d run on Terratribe II. The one that had sunlight spilling into every room.
But Bryson had gotten a job on Elora station two years ago. And when he’d sensed my hesitation in coming with him, he’d promptly proposed. I’d said yes to both – him and the move.
I still sometimes wondered if I’d really made the right choice.
“Thank you so much,” I said. “I love halo-halo.”
Annie produced a spoon and opened its package, dipping it into the cup for me.
“When’s the wedding again?” she asked.
My smile turned to a grimace. I caught myself and smoothed the expression.
Lualhati, you cannot make that weird-ass face every time asks about what should be the happiest day of your life!
“In a month,” I replied. I dipped my spoon deeper into the halo-halo, letting it sift through sweet layers of shaved ice, evaporated milk, coconut, ube, and mango. My chest clenched with what was becoming a scarily familiar feeling of dread at the prospect of our wedding. I suddenly wasn’t sure whether I could actually eat this beautiful dessert anymore.
And I truly fucking loved halo-halo, so that was saying something.
It’s just stress.
Wasn’t that what Bryson kept telling me? It was why I was taking a break from work to begin with. To focus on the wedding and on our relationship. And not long after that, hopefully I’d be focusing on babies…
My own this time, instead of my patients’.
“Congratulations again,” Annie breathed, leaning in to give me a swift hug, making sure not to jostle my melting halo-halo. “We’ll miss you.”
I was too choked up to say I’d miss them, too.
I squeezed her tightly with my free arm, then disentangled myself before I could burst into blubbery tears. As I walked away, I had a few bites of the halo-halo, letting the cold sweetness soothe me a little. I focused on the taste, not wanting to think about the job I’d just left or the apartment waiting for me.
So instead, I thought about the message. The words came back to me without any real effort at all on my part. Like they’d been waiting quietly in some corner of my brain, ready to leap back to the forefront at the first chance.
Do you know anyone who might want to come work on a prison planet?
Most of the businesses on this floor of Elora Station were medical in some capacity. I’d just come to the little food court area that served them. I found an empty table and put my halo-halo down and looked at the message again.
Yup. Still there. Still making no sense whatsoever.
She’d sent it just a few minutes before I’d looked at my tablet.
