“Generational?” Reid raised an eyebrow.
“We’d take a bunch of necessary personnel and their partners—ideally also with useful skills—and put them all on a ship that was going to, say, the next closest solar system. And because that would take so long, they’d never make it. But their children, or their children’s children would. If we can build a ship that would be self-sustaining for that long.”
“Oh,” Reid said, turning that thought over in his mind. A whole life in space. He could hardly imagine what that would be like, cool as it sounded.
And if they didn’t solve the muscle loss problem, it’d be crippling.
“An expert in muscle recovery after exposure to microgravity would be extremely useful on a ship like that,” Gabriel said, as if he’d read Reid’s mind. “If you’re looking for an excuse to study it. You’ve even got a first test subject.”
“I don’t think they’d let me take my hypothetical partner,” Reid said.
Gabriel opened his mouth to respond, and then closed it again, his brows knitting together as he considered that. Reid could almosthearthe gears turning in his head.
“You’re gay,” he said after a moment.
“Got it in one,” Reid said.
That probably meant Gabrielwasn’t, which was kind of a shame, but also a relief. It was absolutely fine to think his straight patient was cute—even to have a tiny intellectual crush on him—because nothing would come of it. He’d be oblivious.
“That’s not actually a bad thing. Homosexuality has an important social role in mammalian communities. Especially ones that have more children than adults, which is exactly what would happen on a ship like this. Besides, you can still be a father, because at the moment we’d have to go with IVF in space. The traditional method doesn’t exactly work without Earth gravity.”
“No sex in space?” Reid asked. He’d never thought about it before.
“No sex in space,” Gabriel confirmed. “I mean, maybe one day? People are working on it. But right now, no.”
“I’m out,” Reid said, laughing. “I’ll stay here, where there’s gravity.”
He was joking, but it was good to know that Gabriel didn’t hate gays on principle or anything. Better still to know that he saw a future for gay people in space. The sci-fi he’d grown up with had left Reid feeling left out once he hit his teenage years and realized that he rarely saw himself in that world, as though there just wouldn’t be gay people by the time humanity had space travel figured out.
It had hurt back when he realized, but hearing someone who actually worked in the field saying that he was good enough for the closest thing humanity had toStarfleetfelt as though it had healed a small part of that.
It also didn’t help Reid’s tiny crush.
“Okay, well,” Reid said, turning away so Gabriel wouldn’t see him blushing again. “Do you need your exercise plan printed out, or is email okay?”
“Save a tree,” Gabriel said. “I’m permanently attached to my phone, anyway.”
Reid chuckled. He couldn’t fault Gabriel for that. He could barely remember what life before smartphones was like, despite being more than old enough to.
“Okay, well, there’s a basic diet structure there as well. Essentially I want you to eat more than usual, and lean heavier on protein than you probably normally would. Good news is that studies show caffeine is actually good for recovery, so you don’t have to give up coffee.”
“That’s a relief, because I would have ignored that part,” Gabriel said. “I owe most of my success to caffeine.”
“Me too,” Reid laughed. “Do you want me to re-tape you?”
“I think I’m allergic to the glue,” Gabriel said, looking down sheepishly.
“Oh.” Reid felt immediately guilty, despite the fact that he couldn’t possibly have known. “So have you taken it all off, or…?”
Gabriel nodded. “Yeah. I feel like it was helping a little, but it was incredibly itchy after about twenty-four hours.”
“Okay. Sorry about that. You could also try compression garments.”
Gabriel wet his lips, clearly considering his options. “I think I’ll just tough it out. What is it they say? No pain, no gain?”
Reid raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t expect that coming from you,” he said.
Gabriel stood. “I’m not a stranger to sacrifice,” he responded, his tone changing just a little.
