Jove's exhaustion finally caught up with him as he returned to his tiny, but increasingly familiar bunk. He found a clean change of clothes - his only clean change of clothes, as it happened, and took a long shower.
There wasn't much to do afterward. His mother had taken care of unloading the gear sled, which was fine, as he was exhausted. He'd already grabbed the guns he'd liberated from Victor's bodyguards and hidden them in his room, aware that if his mother had it her way he'd probably never touch them again.
He stretched out on his bed, clean and increasingly warm, with the heat back on. A knock came at his door, and he propped his head up.
"Come in," he said.
Eve leaned into view. "Mom made a big lunch, if you're hungry."
She'd also showered and changed, having apparently found a baggy t-shirt to liberate from the lost in found with a logo for some beer company on the front. Her dark hair was still damp and scraggly, and she had on a pair of yoga pants that clung tightly to her thighs and butt.
"What did she make?" he asked.
"Shrimp stir fry," said Eve. "I know, right? She must be really happy we're back to break out the meat."
Jove sat up, feeling his back groaning a bit in complaint. "She mentioned wanting to help the people of Port Sirius when we were coming inside after refilling the station's fuel tank."
"Help them… how?" asked Eve.
"By opening Termina Station up."
He was buoyed by the surprise and frustration he saw on Eve's face.
"I'll talk to her," she said. "I don't think that's a good idea in the slightest. Not to get too into tribalism, but I think we would be best off looking out for ourselves, callous as it may seem."
"I feel the same way, but…" Jove shook his head, struggling to express his thinking. "I don't know. It's like I want her to be right. I would like for us to be able to help people. But I'm also a realist. I saw how desperate they were and I doubt it would end well."
"Desperate is the right word for it," said Eve. "It would only be worse if they saw what we have here. We're warm, comfortable, well-fed. People might go to drastic lengths for that kind of setup."
"Very true." He stood up and headed for the door. "Speaking of food…"
Eve smiled and stepped back to give him room to enter the hallway. "Want to play some Vertimon after?"
"Sure." He smiled back at her and felt a rise in the tension, as though he'd agreed to something more. "Food first though."
"Of course, little brother." Eve walked backwards down the hallway, still facing him. "Bet you've worked up quite the appetite."
"More than I think you know."
Jove could immediately sense the uncomfortable mood between Aster and his mother as he and Eve joined them in the cafeteria. They both took a seat on the same side of the table as Aster, with Kira standing to make their plates.
"Hey." Aster smiled, but her expression was distant. "How are you feeling?"
"Tired, but clean," he said. "It's good to be home."
He tried to catch her gaze, but she kept her eyes away from his, casual but conspicuous.
"Home," echoed Aster. "I'm still struggling to think of this station that way. Eve told me about the plane. I suppose I should at least be grateful that I wasn't on it."
"You're welcome," said Kira, in a stiff voice.
"I didn't ask for your commentary," snapped Aster. "My point was simply that we all have to start being honest ourselves about how long we might be here for."
Her phrasing irked Jove, and he couldn't resist poking the sentiment. "Makes sense. Honesty is always the best policy."
Aster finally looked at him, but glanced away after a split second, the passing bit of eye contact searing in its intensity.
"Mother," said Eve. "Jove told me that you want to bring people into the station. Let's discuss."
"Let's not," said Kira.
"That's it, Kira," said Aster. "Shut down all dissention. Rule with an iron fist."
"Aster, you are not sixteen years old anymore!" shouted Kira. "Stop acting like a child!"
The two sisters glared at each other but said nothing more. Jove took a slow bite of his stir fry, doubting whether even a basic compromise could be reached.
"Victor Vasquez tried to separate us from the other survivors while we were in Port Sirius," said Eve. "I had to pull the gun on him to get us both out of there."
Kira shook her head. "I'm glad you both made it back safe, Eve. But you may have also blown our only chance at being diplomatic. Cooperating for everyone's benefit."
"Mom, you weren't there," said Jove. "Eve didn't blow anything. Eve stopped a psychotic billionaire from taking us prisoner. Doing worse, in all likelihood."
"You're right," said Kira. "I wasn't there. But I will be next time, and I still think we can get all of this sorted out."
There wasn't much more to say to that, at least not that Jove thought his mother would hear. The family ate in silence, with the days victory feeling muted and diminished.
He felt like he needed space after he finished the meal. He wandered into the station's hydroponics lab, the warm and humid air catching him off guard as he entered through the door.
He hadn't realized how much he'd missed greenery and plant life until that moment, stepping through the neatly ordered rows of cultivated kale and carrots. The room was vibrant and peaceful, different in tone from the rest of the station.
"Andromeda?" said Jove. "Can you hear me?"
"Yes, Jovian," said the AI. "I can hear you."
"Been settling back into the station alright?"
"Yes," said Andromeda. "It is so familiar here to me. I do not have emotions in the same way humans do, but in a sense, being here brings me to a state akin to contentment."
"Nice," said Jove. "Glad to hear it."
"Is there something on your mind?" asked Andromeda.
He nodded, eyeing a potato plant that looked wilted. "How many people could Termina Station feed?"
"In a strict sense, Termina Station can only feed two people indefinitely, and those two would eventually encounter unavoidable nutritional deficiencies," said Andromeda. Taking into account the current stocks of nonperishable food, Termina Station can feed four people for about five weeks."
"Better than what I was expecting, I suppose," muttered Jove. "Could we expand the amount of food we're growing here, somehow? Use the hallway for more plants?"
"The limiting factor is not space, but equipment and resources. It would require more sun lamps, a new soil supply, and additional water. I do not believe it would be feasible in the immediate future."
"What are we supposed to do then?" he asked. "I'm not heartless. I want to help the innocent people in Port Sirius. The people who were only there for work, not Victor and his bodyguards."
"May I make a suggestion?" asked Andromeda.
"Of course."
"Termina Station's communications array suffered a minor defect during the first skirmish between Abacus and Tchaikovsky. Were I to bring communications back online, I might be able to obtain information from the AI controlled remnants of the internet about potential human safe havens."
"You think there are other safe havens left?" he asked.
"I do not know for certain."
He rubbed a hand across his growing stubble. The idea gave him pause. He thought back to the map, his and Eve's encounter with the crevasse, how the experience had left him wondering about Andromeda's loyalties.
He wasn't sure if he trusted the AI or simply wanted to trust her.
"Did you pitch this idea to my mother already?" he asked.
"Director Faremont was not in favor of giving me access to the communications array," said Andromeda. "I did not mean to imply otherwise. My suggestion was made out of a desire to provide you with a potential solution to an otherwise substantial problem."
"I hear you."
He frowned and folded his arms, wondering how much he could fault his mother for her ways. She was, as Andromeda had just reminded him, Director Faremont. She'd been calling the shots for Termina Station for years, probably without much questioning of her decisions.
The door to the hydroponics lab opened, and Eve stepped in. She made a show of looking around at the plants, but Jove knew she'd come looking for him.
"It's nice in here," she said. "Warm."
"Yeah." He waited as she came over to stand next to him, aware of her presence even as he looked at the kale. "All the sun lamps."
"We could have just turned those on instead of rushing out to get more fuel," said Eve, leaning back against the counter. "Lay under them naked. Get a tan."
"You could still do that," he said, smirking.
"I could." She smiled and the moment seemed to hang on the edge. "But… I actually had Vertimon on my mind."
"When do you not?"
"When I'm skiing, but my knee is still hurting me." She grabbed his wrist and started dragging him toward the door. "Come."
"I'm coming, I'm coming," he said, smiling. "Later, Andromeda."
"Later, Jove."